soonerjeff

I can't imagine myself being a member of one of a regional corps. I think I personally would have a hard time going and working at a job all day or going to school and then trying to put 100% of my focused effort into a 4 hour rehearsal everynight. How do the kids do it?! I know that its a great alternative for some kids, so I'm not down on the 'regional' option at all (great idea!), but I'd rather spend all my time focused on the activity and getting the full corps experience. (I can do that short rehearsal time schedule for college marching band where I get the 'pay off' of performing a show every week, but drum corps is a little different. ) Just my personal preference.

It all sounded like jibberish to me. I'm glad that you guys were able to make something out of it. I could have done without all of that and the drum-speak stuff.

Something else no one's mentioned: With their Afternoon score, the Colts are actually in 11th place. Now I know that there's the old "different show, different judges" idea, but this does help the Colts make a statement that they're improved from last year and trying to move on up. I think they'll re-settle back around 13th or 14th before Semis, but its just one more interesting shake up from today's Indy show.

Maybe their saving that as a surprise ending on Finals night :P

I know Pioneer changed to the "milkman hats" (from Aussies) a few years ago, but I think they've had the same unis for a while now. I'll have to doublecheck with my sister on what the history is there. Its time for an update from them.... (without the milkman hats, that is. They cause too many problems.)

These previous bus accidents were running through my head for about 30 minutes last night as I was leaving the Enid, OK show site. We stayed in the lot afterwards talking to some friends and ended up leaving town at the same time as Seattle and Glassmen. The whole time I was around the busses and trucks I was so worried about making sure I wasn't anywhere close to the vehicles-- I did NOT want to end up making the news on DCI or DCP b/c of an accident late at night. I'm glad to hear everyone's okay with Spirit. Let's hope that 'rule of 3' is in effect now and this ends the problems.

I have to kind of agree with drumcat. I wouldn't be surprised if this was actually done by some high school kid who is a DCI fan, knew about this voting and has a favorite corps, and wanted to see if he/she could actually get a 'bot' that they've created to work. They probably found build-a-bot instructions online and saw this as a good way to test their new program (because its a smaller scale/easier system to hack into) and didn't think they'd get caught. You could call them a "kiddie hacker" or something, but I don't really think (hope) it would be someone who is actively on DCP-- Most everyone on here talks big, but I would like to think that we all know where to check our passion as we enter reality.

I actually thought Bluecoats got robbed a point or so (until I saw that no one hardly moved up )-- They were definitely a point better tonight than they were last night. EN FUEGO!!! They were rocking that stadium by the end of the show, and they knew it! I think the crowd came in as a sort or pro-Madison/pro-SCV crowd, but Bluecoats definitely got the biggest applause of the night. They deserved High Brass, but I think their Music Ensemble and Visual Performance scores should have been higher. Total GE was about right (especially Phantom's placement. Guard and the male dancer sold the show well, but in my opinion I didn't see as much from anyone else.) Madison reworked some of the new ending and took out the "Superman pose" that was part of the original loud finish from last night. If they're going to do the softer finish, this change is a MUCH better transition because its less of a final statement like Superman was. I thought all the corps had better shows tonight, so its hard for me to understand why there was hardly any movement in the scores. But I guess I'm better at just sitting back and enjoying the show than I am at actually judging .

I'll throw out a few of my thoughts real fast before I head out the door to go to the Broken Arrow show :D 1. Southwind-- I like their show each time I see it. I really wouldn't mind marching that show. It has some sections where it moves pretty well with some good drill, the music is really good (I LOVE how they keep working in the Willie Wonka "Pure Imagination" phrase!!! I just wish they would have used that whole piece as their ballad.) 2. Cap Reg-- I start to "get" their show a little more each time, but I still don't really like it. The featured dancing girl is good, and the guard has some good moments, but their drill is just 'there' and the music isn't very accessible. 3. Yeah, they went on last, but I think that helped them. They sounded bigger and looked a little more confident in their marching than I was expecting. I just have to wonder out loud if marching last had anything to do with that. I pleasantly enjoyed the show, even though I was a little disturbed by the purple planes killing the happy yellow plane :o . And wow, how about those guard uniforms!! And I thought Cap Reg's were a little risque? The low-cut zippered V-neck caught my eye. Yeah, I enjoyed seeing both of those unis 4. Glassmen-- I am loving this show too! GREAT musical arrangement (yes, the brass do still have some cleaning to do, but the writing is great), VERY GOOD color guard (the feature dancer-- Oh so hot! Oh wait, I'm friends with her at the Univ. of Oklahoma B)). Its been the one show that I can tap my foot to and really enjoy it. 5. SCV-- Much better than when I saw them in Dallas last week. A lot cleaner visually, but there were still some people sticking out (I think I saw the original post mention people being out of step.) Music is getting better, but I'm personally not that moved by it, and RCM is one of my all-time favorites!! They definitely do a great job with RCM, and it actually does work well as a closer, but I don't see them selling it very much. 6. Madison-- I really liked the show; Watched the guard through most of the opening b/c of how active those characters are. Very crisp hornline, and the music is well-arranged. The "guest performer" girl is utilized VERY well! I wasn't distracted by her at all, and she definitely added a much needed character to the story. She dances very well and they just did a good job of choreographing her moves. I kept looking for her on the sidelines at the beginning of the show until my sister asked if I thought she was being kept under the back-field podium. Nice entrance :) . I thought Madison's new ending really killed the crowd's reaction. Everyone was on their feet cheering with the original big loud ending, but then everyone just sort of sat down and was "Oh, thats nice" with the new quiet ending. It definitely helps tell the story, and its effective when you understand how it fits in, but I would always rather sacrifice creativity and storylines that only 30% of the crowd will understand to get a loud crowd reaction at the end :D : 7. Bluecoats-- I definitely agree with you that it was a pro-Bluecoats crowd. (I did see a lot of Southwind shirts though...) I know that there are 4 guys from the University of Oklahoma marching baritone with Blue, but there may be a few more Oklahomans in the corps than I thought. Blue just keeps trying to get better, and I know they're working their tails off, but they just can't seem to get that big jump again. Drums didn't seem as tight, and the guard had some bobbles. The drill keeps getting cleaner though and the horn visuals in the last half of the show (that were just added in the last week) are improving steadily. Still some issues when dressing down in a block, but that should be fixed in the next few weeks. Score-wise I guess I agree with most of the decisions. I think the gap between Madison and Bluecoats should have been about .5 closer. Bluecoats should have taken Percussion and maybe Visual (Blue's drill seems to be more difficult than Madison). GE Music and Guard were close too. In all I think this was the highest-quality show that Enid has hosted yet. Two years ago they hosted the first Cavies vs. Blue Devils show, and this year there was no one of poor quality. Maybe that speaks to the high quality that ALL the corps are showing this year (yes, all the way down to Southwind). Can't wait for Broken Arrow tonight-- Bluecoats vs. Madison vs. Phantom!!! Plus Glassmen and SCV battling it out again, and Phantom doing encore= b**bs b**bs .

I'm beginning to fear the same thing. There's just visual ticks every time, can't seem to get it completely done. Plus I keep hearing some soprano problems each time-- Not sure whats up, but they need some work still. Come on Bluuuuue!!!! I don't think they they "chunked" it on purpose. I think the kid doing the narration might have actually forgotten to start saying the second part. I was watching him and he started to lean forward into the microphone but then had that "Oh shoot, I just missed the beat" look on his face. I didn't really mind though. I can't imagine it would have added that much. Then again, I haven't seen or heard their show before, so there might have been a lot more narration before. I just guessed what happened based on his reaction. By the way, tonight's show in Broken Arrow, OK is the place to be-- Bluecoats vs. Madison vs. Phantom!!!!!

I hadn't seen Madison until last night. The new ending definitely helps with the story they're telling (especially after you're given the 'company line' on what goes on through the show by a member of the corps), but I think it really killed the atmosphere. The crowd was on its feet and cheering loudly with the original big loud finish, but then the corps continued with the new ending and everyone in the crowd was like "oh.... That was nice" and there was almost no cheering when they finally finished the show. Basically just polite clapping.

Haha, thank you! YES!!!! Its not that I hate the constant soloists and soprano screamers or that I'm anti-BD, I just feel like too often people use it as a cheap way to get crowd reaction/applause. How can multiple feature solos like that actually fit into a show idea/theme/story? I'm entertained by their talent and good sounds, but they never really add anything to the show if its done more than once. (from my post in this thread)

Ouch, sure am glad that I never visit over there. (But how would I feel about being considered "one of those DCPers"?! I'll leave that to the other rabble-rowsers here ) Its not that I hate the constant soloists and soprano screamers or that I'm anti-BD, I just feel like too often people use it as a cheap way to get crowd reaction/applause. How can multiple feature solos like that actually fit into a show idea/theme/story? I'm entertained by their talent and good sounds, but they never really add anything to the show if its done more than once.

I've thought the same thing since I saw the show in Dallas last week!! I just don't understand that 'reverse' idea-- If it was so that things are upbeat at the end of the show, then I guess I see the reasoning, but it really isn't coming through in my opinion. I actually felt like the everyone (guard and brass) was 'acting' tired throughout the whole thing. I didn't see much 'waking up' until the very last section. The show isn't horrible by any means (I actually was really entertained by it, despite the never-ending line of solos and soprano squeals <_< ), but surely there would have been a way to come up with an upbeat ending.

I just started ignoring the narration when I saw the show in Dallas last week. The "yowza yowza yowza" was getting annoying and it really just couldn't be heard over the pit/field/audience sounds. Plus I found that I was trying to look around the pit to try to find the person on the mike (it was actually very "old-time recording" sounding) and I didn't like being distracted like that. I didn't think that it added anything to the show-- I could still figure out and follow the story with just the listing of 'movements' in the program. And no, my choice to ignore the narration had nothing to do with the amplification issue.

Is one of those Guard judges the crazy-sounding lady that we hear on the 2003 DVDs? Yikes!

Good catch. I was thinking the same thing. There's usually a drop from Semis to Finals in the 8-12th place corps. Someone mentioned on DCP the other day its almost like Finals (and I'd say San Antonio evening, too) spreads the scores on top and bottom.

You guys are making me regret having not signed up for the 3-month deal....

So does anyone know if they are basically doing the same show (i.e. same music/drill) on this tour, or have they put together some new stuff?

I'd try for something like a high-middle. With Blast, its good to be up high so that you can see the drill, but you also want to be close enough to be able to see facial expressions and stuff. They sell a lot of their show and the emotion behind the 'story'/theme by using facial expression and stuff (since its easier in a smaller stage environment than on the football field.)

I think they're talking about the fire truck sirens that the Cadets arranged to be sounded at the end of their 2002 show in Madison (can't remember the title right now, but it ended with guard people re-enacting soldiers raising the flag at Iwo Jima and firefighters raising the flag on the grounds of the World Trade Center after Sept. 11.)

Got this off a post that Hop made yesterday on his blog (http://www.livejournal.com/users/yeaguy/): Lately he has been talking about the judges not reacting or even recognizing the artistic performance (not technical performance) that the corps/kids are putting on. So he seemed pretty amped that one of the judges noticed the girl before the show and made the connection. (He explained the story behind the girl's early appearance about a month ago I think.) I haven't seen the show yet, so I can't comment. I don't know how I'd feel honestly-- I understand the 'fun' that a unique idea like this brings, but I think I'd be a little bugged b/c she'd distract me from focusing on the corps that is about to take the field. Great idea from the Cadets' view, b/c by the middle of the show everyone will be anticipating their corps, but I like to give every corps an equal chance and attention. In the end, I'm sure that it wouldn't effect me that much, but I will admit that I'm afraid of that this could cause everyone to start doing things like this. Did anyone else see the announcement on this message board from the Phantom Regiment, asking fans to buy a rainstick and shake them as the corps comes on the field? I know its not the same (i.e. entering the field vs. an hour early), but its something I'm still not certain about. _______________________ From the few pictures I've seen, I'd say she's not bad. But I think they all have dark black hair, which doesn't really do it for me in those Catholic school-girl outfits :P

Thanks for this info, guys! These are the types of opinions I've been looking for. Being a recent college graduate and now looking for a job, I'm trying to be tight with my cash and I've been hesitant to buy into this yet if its not worth it. I'm still deciding, but right now I think I'm okay with not doing it. I could save this money and put it toward travel costs for the few shows I can see in July or buying the DVD/CDs at the end of the season. Was the coverage of Orlando any better?

Nothing on Pioneer either?

I'm definitely not trying to start something here, but I'm wondering what you thought of SW's and Mandarin's drill also if you thought that Pioneer's drill isn't up to Div 1 level? From what I've seen, SW and Mandarin (along with some of the others) stand there for long periods of time giving them a chance to rest, especially during some of the more technical parts of the music. Pioneer doesn't stop moving at all. They only have 2 or 3 'grand pauses' which occur during big hits, along with the normal pauses between movements. Their more difficult drill happens during the 3 movement/percussion section, right before the closer. I do totally agree with you that Pio is lacking stamina and doesn't have the conditioning yet to make it all the way through to the end with full strength, but I think that comes from having a more difficult drill book than some other Div 1 corps, not an easier book that doesn't reach Div 1 standard or something. Just my 2 cents, its something that I thought about during the show and I just happened to see the comment you had made and thought I'd ask you about. Not attacking, just curious! Thanks!